Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? rehabbing an old gravel pit ?'s

I have an old 3/4 to an acre horse shoe shaped gravel pit. So far I have dug the pond out to about 8.5ft, but it was done blind(water still in it)... got to the sand/gravel in several spots but very uneven bottom. I am guessing it will raise another 3 to 4 feet till it gets to the dam overflow. There have been a few adult fish stocked so far (20 crappie, 70bg, 5 lmb and couple dozen fhm.)
Plan on using the pond for fishing first and a small swimming area secondly. Ideal fishery would have crappie, yp, some type of bg or combination, smb, hsb, and cc. Plan on feeding, and would be willing to do other management strategies.
1) Is this feasible in a pond this small or am I asking for trouble
2) What would be the best next step....aeration system, water testing, structure,bacteria or wait till it fills the rest of the way up? There is a creek within 50 ft, so I could potentially use that to help fill the pond. Thanks

I personally wouldn't use the creek water if there is any chance of minnows of some sort being in it. Might get fish you don't want. It sounds very doable other than that. Old gravel pits are bought here all the time for fishing clubs, but most are larger than 3/4 acre and they pump gravel (and lots of sand) down to about 40 feet. They are great fishing places and the water stays pretty clear here.

I would echo what poppy65 said. Don't know what kind of fish you have in your creeks, but if you pumped water into a pond from a creek "here" you would most definitely introduce GSF and bullheads.

Ok, should I wait for it to fill or would it be ok to put an aeration system in before it is full?

If I could "do over", I sure would have put in my aeration system before the pond filled. And I have the luxury of being a scuba diver, so I can go down and "see" what is happening (which is kind of interesting, by the way).

Routing your hose around and between structure you have placed and seeing exactly where the deep spots are would to me be beneficial.

You can drop the diffusers from a boat and it all works out ok, but being able to walk out there and place them exactly where you want it......... priceless I would think (but I have not done it that way).

Illineye, you may want to seriously consider killing the fish in the pond now with Hydrated Lime. You added a lot of adults, but what is there for them to eat???

Crappie will take a LOT of intense management to keep under control and from overpopulating in 3/4 acre. Stocking adults with no forage starts you out in a very unbalanced condition, instantly stunts the stocked fish from starvation and just makes management more difficult in every way. Investing all those dollars into the fish's home and not stocking quality fish is like building your own home, and opening it up to anyone to party in at will while you're gone...it'll get trashed fast!